[Bear9350]

I just bought a new '13 500 HO for the main purpose of plowing my driveway. I've been having issues the next day starting it after plowing. The battery gets drained down to much to turn the engine over. I used to plow with a '07 500 regularly and never had this issue.

Is this common and anybody have any recomendations for fixing it. Better battery or alternator? If not I might just have to invest in a trickle charger to make sure it will start in the morning before I head to work.

 

[bigtime]

My friend buy a trickle charger and forget about it. My 2011 800 does the same thing. I got a little worried too and had the dealer load test the battery and it was putting out higher than specs. I too got a trickle charger(mine is a Deka) and have never had a problem. Dealer said the stator on the machine is designed to maintain battery voltage, not to recharge battery.

Hope this helps

 

[kemblkr]

If your solenoid gets packed with snow and ice it can cause the battery drain. Clean the connections and you should be good. If not, something is wrong as I haven't heard anyone else complaining about the stator not putting out enough voltage for a winch. You should have abundant power for many accessories. I don't have an 800 but mine sits outside under a cover for a couple of weeks after lots of plowing and never an issue with the battery. Terminal issue, something drawing current when key off, bad stator or bad battery. A battery tender would be a good temporary fix until you get through the plowing season as mentioned by bigtime

 

[MustBeNice]

Couple questions that may help diagnose your problem:

1) How much plowing are you doing? > How often are you cycling the winch (guess @ how many in/out cycles)?

2) How cold is it where your located? > Is ATV stored inside or out?

3) Whom wired the winch? > Brand & Size?

4) When not plowing (using winch) does it hold a charge?

5) Have you had the battery load tested? > You may have a bad battery! (Can be tested at just about any auto parts store.)

6) Have to checked the battery with a meter to see how many volts it's output when engine off and when it's running?

I plow a fare amount and haven't had issues if I use it a few days in a row without putting the battery tender on overnight. That leads me to believe something isn't working of wired correctly..... not sure were to begin.

It may be a good idea to purchase a battery tender/maintainer. And allow it to trickle charge and keep the battery warm while not in use!!

Just some idea's.... good luck tracking it down.

 

[Bear9350]

Couple questions that may help diagnose your problem:

1) How much plowing are you doing? > How often are you cycling the winch (guess @ how many in/out cycles)?

I can't really give you a good estimate on cycles. It takes me about 45 min to clear the entire drive though.

2) How cold is it where your located? > Is ATV stored inside or out?

It was probably 15F - 20F when I tried Wed morning. Stored in an unheated garage.

3) Whom wired the winch? > Brand & Size?

After reading some reviews on here I went with the 3500 Badlands winch from Harbor Freight. Did the install myself. Not really a whole lot you can screw up wiring it so I don't think I did anything wrong there.

4) When not plowing (using winch) does it hold a charge?

It seems that if I take the plow off and run it for a little while it isn't a problem. But I don't have time to do this all the time.

5) Have you had the battery load tested? > You may have a bad battery! (Can be tested at just about any auto parts store.)

I haven't done any testing on the battery. I just bought this thing in Oct and it only has about 15 miles on it so far. Nearly all of those are plowing.

6) Have to checked the battery with a meter to see how many volts it's output when engine off and when it's running?

I plow a fare amount and haven't had issues if I use it a few days in a row without putting the battery tender on overnight. That leads me to believe something isn't working of wired correctly..... not sure were to begin.

It may be a good idea to purchase a battery tender/maintainer. And allow it to trickle charge and keep the battery warm while not in use!!

Just some idea's.... good luck tracking it down.

I should have a battery charger any way so I will probably pick one up. Next step I guess is to get the battery tested.

 

[InRBigness]

don't get a charger, get a maintainer. They are different. Maintainer will do as its listed. My experience with chargers is they keep going even when its full.

 

[FuntanaS]

don't get a charger, get a maintainer. They are different. Maintainer will do as its listed. My experience with chargers is they keep going even when its full.

+1

I ordered the Battery Tender Jr on ebay for about $25.